Description
If you’re a fan of Olive Garden’s Chicken Gnocchi Soup then you are going to love my homemade version. It’s full of pillowy gnocchi, tender chicken, fresh veggies like the classic but my version is even more flavorful and I love that you can make it from scratch and control the ingredients. It’s such a cozy and comforting soup but the addition of fresh lemon keeps it from being too heavy. I return to this recipe every soup season and it never disappoints.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 large carrots, diced
- 3 ribs celery, diced
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 1.5 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
- 16-20 oz potato gnocchi (I used this kind)
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot starch
- juice of half a lemon
- 1 cup half and half
- 2 cups baby spinach, roughly chopped
- chopped chives, for serving
- chopped parsley, for serving
- fresh cracked black pepper, for serving
Instructions
- Heat a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the olive oil, diced onion, diced carrot, diced celery, and minced garlic. Sauté the veggies for 4-5 minutes until the onion is becomes translucent and everything is fragrant. Season with 1 teaspoon of salt and a bit of black pepper.
- Next, add the chicken broth, boneless skinless chicken breast, bay leaves, and fresh thyme. Bring the soup to a boil and then cover and reduce the heat to a simmer. Let the soup simmer for 10-15 minutes until the chicken is completely cooked through and no longer pink. Remove the chicken from the soup and shred the meat with two forks.
- Bring the soup back to a simmer and then add the potato gnocchi to the soup. Cover and let the gnocchi cook in the simmering soup for 2-3 minutes.
- While the gnocchi are simmering, whisk together half and half and arrowroot starch.
- Reduce the soup heat to low and add the shredded chicken and spinach to the soup. Then pour in the arrowroot half and half slurry and stir until everything is well combined. The soup should thicken as it continues to heat.
- Finish the soup by stirring in the fresh lemon juice. Serve the soup with chopped chives, parsley, and fresh black pepper.
Notes
Ingredients Swaps and Substitutions
Half and Half – feel free to swap the half and half for full-fat coconut milk to keep this soup dairy free. You could also use whole milk instead of half and half if you prefer. You could also leave this out if you like a more bothy soup.
Gnocchi – If you need to make this recipe gluten free, just swap the regular gnocchi for a gluten free variety. Cauliflower gnocchi will likely work in this recipe as well. You could also leave the gnocchi out completely and add in another cooked pasta of your choice.
Chicken Broth – you can easily use veggie broth instead of chicken if needed.
Veggies – try adding in chopped mushrooms if you enjoy them or swapping the baby spinach for chopped tuscan kale!
Arrowroot – if you don’t have arrowroot starch, feel free to use cornstarch instead to thicken the soup.
Storage and Reheating Instructions
Fridge: to keep the soup fresh, store in an air-tight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. You can easily reheat this soup on the stovetop or in the microwave. Feel free to add in a little extra broth if the soup is thicker than you like when reheating.
Freezer: I don’t recommend freezing this soup. Because of the dairy and gnocchi it won’t reheat the best so I prefer to make it fresh.
